Father's Day sermon

Father’s Day 2009
1 Thessalonians 2.10 – 12

I like Father’s Day of course. I get cards and calls from my kids and really enjoy that. I also take time to think about my dad – he died 50 years ago this year – that is a long time. I remember a lot of things about him, and the things I remember get better and better every year. He was a good man, but not a perfect man, of course. My dad almost never went to church until the last year or so of his life. I say he went to church on Christmas and Easter unless he could find some way to get out of going then. He liked to go golfing and fishing and for some reason he thought he caught more fish and played golf better on Sunday morning than any other time. He expected my mom to get us to church. Only after he came to Christ did he like to go to church. Unfortunately he had a stroke on the day our family was going to be baptized and was sick much of the time before he died. I believe he loved the Lord and would have served him if he could have.
This is a father’s day sermon aimed at fathers – those who are raising their kids right now and those whose kids are out of the house. We never stop being their dads and we never should.
What is a good and godly father? How do we learn what a father should be like? We turn to the word of God. We are studying the book of 1 Thessalonians for a while. In chapter 2 of this book, verses 10-12 we have one of the most wonderful short passages in the Bible about fathers. Listen for the two fundamental characteristics of a good father. Read verses 10-12.
The context of this passage is Paul’s defense of his ministry to the church – he is actually saying to them this is the way I ministered to you – in vss. 7 and 8 above he says he cared for them as a mother cares for her children and then in these verses he tell how in cared for them as a father. The passage is really for ministers telling us how they should care for the church. It is also for all of us saying that this is the way we should treat one another.
First, he says that they are witnesses and so is God, how holy, righteous and blameless he was as he ministered to them. Fathers, all of us know how our kids follow our example in what we do and say. They imitate us in ways we do not even recognize sometimes. I was with a man and his son last week for a couple of hours. The man said his son got into trouble at school for swearing. He told he had punished his son but he keeps on swearing. I gently pointed out that the man swore way too much, but he did not even recognize what he was saying. Kids model after us, and it seems like they pick up on our negative characteristics more than our good ones.
As Chr men, and as Chrs, we need to be holy, righteous, and blameless as much as we can. Look at your life to see what needs to be changed so that you can be holy and blameless. I look at my life often to see what needs to be changed. I did not say if something needs to be changed. I said I look to see what needs to be changed. The God we worship and serve is holy and blameless and he wants us to be the same. By his power and help, we can be holy and blameless. We are all in a battle with satan – we win only with the power and help of the Lord.
The second part of this verse says we need to deal with our kids as fathers who is encouraging, comforting, and urging them to live lives worthy of God. This is not the image we have of fathers in our culture. In the movies and on TV fathers do not care about their kids serving God or even the fathers serving God. Paul was being a father to the Chrs by encouraging, comforting, and urging them to serve God.
As fathers with kids at home we need to be their finest encouragers. We need to be their constant cheerleaders, standing with them as go to school, participate in sports or drama, in the church, and every aspect of their lives. I was so proud of each of my kids and the things they did when they were growing up. I bragged about them to everyone who would listen and I told them often I was proud of them.
I still try to encourage them even though they live far away. In every phone call I try to say something that will encourage them in their lives today. I love them very much and am genuinely proud of them. Hans and Peder are very good dads, and Heidi is a good mother. They all enjoy their kids and work had at helping the kids grow. (Peder and Aurelia and the clothes thing.) I try to encourage them the work they do – jobs are not easy.
On of the other things I have discovered is that I need to try to encourage their spouses too. There is no question in my mind that the enjoyment and success in the lives of my kids is directly connected to their spouses. I love Hans’ wife Rachel, Peder’s wife Sarah, and Heidi’s husband Chad and I pray for them regularly. I could tell you about each of them and why I am proud of them, but we only have a certain amount of time for this sermon. I am not their father, but they are my kids.
I am committed to comforting my kids too. They have really not had situations where comforting has been needed, at least in big things, but they will come and I will do everything I can to comfort and strengthen them with the love of God.
Finally this passage says we as fathers need to urge our kids to live lives worthy of God, the God who call us and them into his kingdom. I want my kids to live for the Lord because that is the best possible life in all the world. There is no better way to live – the Chr life is a life of challenge, comfort, joy, peace, and growth. There is no more joyful life than the Chr life. I have learned over and over again that God loves me more than I can understand, and more than I will ever know, and of course more than I deserve. I need to show my kids that God loves them more than they can understand, more than they can know, and more than they deserve. But he loves them.
In reality, the best thing we can do for our kids is help them to know my Father, God the Father. He is the Father to the fatherless. God is the perfect Father, disciplining us when that is needed, comforting us when that is needed, and loving us all the time. He is the eternal God so he does not die and leave us. He is with us all of the time to give us the counsel we need. I am so thankful to God that he is my Father and always will be.
Do you need a Father, the perfect Father, come to him.